A darling of the right wing of the party, sound on Europe, the scourge of criminals and their grasping lawyers and contemptuous of High Court judges.

Mr Justice Burnett ruled last week that The Lord Chancellor acted ‘unlawfully’ in the way he consulted on controversial plans to shake up criminal legal aid. The judge said that the ministry’s failure to disclose the findings of two key reports on plans to introduce new dual criminal legal aid contracts was ‘so unfair as to result in illegality’. Quashing the lord chancellor’s decision to reduce the number of duty provider contracts from 1,600 firms to 525, he advised a reconsultation of the profession.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-29283993